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COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Seventeenth-ranked California topped 41st-ranked Texas Tech, 4-0, in the NCAA Championship first round on Saturday morning at Texas A&M’s Mitchell Tennis Center to advance to the second round. Cal next takes on host and eighth-seeded Texas A&M on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT/1 p.m. CT.

The Golden Bears improved to 16-7 after beating the Red Raiders, who ended the season with a 13-11 record, in Saturday’s match, which began at 9 a.m. Central Time. Texas A&M, which is ranked 10th, beat Alcorn State, 4-0, in Saturday’s later first-round match in College Station to improve its record to 25-6, including 15-0 at home.

“We had very good performances today in the doubles, especially considering the early start time – 7 a.m. California time,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “In singles, we knew we had tough matches at No. 1 and No. 2, and our seniors came through with some of their best tennis of the season. We’re looking forward to playing Texas A&M tomorrow on their home courts.”

The 86th-ranked Cal team of senior Ben McLachlan and freshman Andre Goransson opened doubles action with an 8-0 victory over Texas Tech’s Maxime Hinnisdaels/Johann Willems on court one. The Bears clinched the doubles point when the duo of sophomore Mads Engsted and freshman Filip Bergevi beat Carlos DiLaura/Francisco Zambon, 8-2, on court three. The court-one-match – between Cal’s 28th-ranked tandem of juniors Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton and Tech’s 82nd-ranked team of Felipe Soares/Hugh Dojas – went unfinished with the Bears leading 6-1.

Senior Campbell Johnson led off singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over the 100th-ranked Hugo Dojas on court two to give Cal a 2-0 lead in the overall match. Bayane followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Willems on court five to put Cal on the brink of victory. McLachlan, ranked 55th, ended the contest with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Tech’s 60th-ranked Soares on court one. The rest of the matches were abandoned.